Clothes-rack.



, MABTLN n, ANnREWs, or rnoWBB-.rearnivivsrnviiniii., y'

@Leaves-Mee) To .all "whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN ANDREWS,

a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Trowbridge, county of? Tioga, State of Pennsylvania,` have invent-t` ed certain new and useful Improvements in? which the following is Clothes-Racks, of

vertical wall in closed and open position andinay also be removed from the Wall,y opened and supported in an arched position on the floor.

A further object is to yso construct' the:` rack that itwillform a series ofhorizontal= shelvesadj acent `the'wall when hung, on the1 wall in closed positionv and may 4also bey `drawn' from this position into.V aqsubstan-g tially horizontal clothes rack supported only i y Y versl, y16 and 18,18, they are rigidly connected together by vthecross-bars 20 andl from the wall.

The above and other objects and the novelly features ofthe invention will be apparentj from 'thel following description, f taken in l ported `asshown inFig.L lThefcross-bar 20 eXtendsa'soniewhat greater distance beconnection with the drawing, inl .which-y Figure 1 is a perspective view of the rack hung from the wall andV in open positiongi `Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same in closed-position; andFig. 3 is a sidvefelevva tion of the rack yinverted and supported lin an arched position on the floor.

The rack comprises a pair of yparallel lazy-tongs connected together by means of ak series of parallel cross-bars. Each lazytongs comprises a series of pairs of substantially similar cross-levers or slats 10, 101 pivoted together intermediate their ends as at 11. Each pair of levers has its ends pivotally connected to an adjoining pair of levers as indicated at 12and 13. The parts of the rack are made of wood or any other suitable material and the pivotal connec* tions for the levers 10, 101, are formed by the reduced ends of the parallel cross-bars 14, the said reduced ends extending through registering holes in the ends of the levers 10, 101, and for some distance beyond the outer side thereof to form hooks as at 15 for articles of clothing and the like.

'spiafion Lnersra'qeat. 1 Application fuga septceabrerii', i913. serial no. 790,279.

ratenteasepe 1,1914.

V `The intermediate pivotal connection'll of Y each pairof'levers is slightly to one side of thelongitudinal center'of the levers pivoted ktogetherby said connection so thatthe rack will form an archjas vindicated in Fig. 3

when inverted and set on `a horizontal support F. n.

. .A long lever 16 and a short lever 17 are pivotallyI connected to yeach lazy-tongs kat one of its ends, the end of the short lever y17 being `pivotally connected to the lever 16 beyondthe kcenterlof the latter, slightly closer to the free' end thereof. A long'le'- yver 18 and a shortk lever 19l are pivotally connected at .theirvends yto each ofthe other ends ofthenlazy-tongathe end of the short, lever 19` being pivotally` connected to the longflever 18 intermediatethe ends thereof and slightly nearer tliekattached end of lever 18. The levers 17 and 19a're therefore 1 of unequal lengthsand do not touclifthe Hooi-,F whentherack is set up yas shown'in Fig. 8f that the levers17 ,17 `are disposed on the inside of the arch whilethe levers 19, 19 are* 1t fwill be noticed furthermore.

on the outside ofthe archformed by the rack. In order tobrace the free'ends 4of lerespectively, the said free ends serving as supporting feet `for the yrack when it is supyond the outer faces-ofrtlieglever's 16 toforni engaging means on the rack for the hooks 29), Q2, the latter beingsecuredtothe verti- Wall Wk and constitutingu supporting means on said wall for the rack.y The hooks l toin serve to support they rack from the wall.

Vhen the rack is drawn to an open position it will assume a downwardly curved shape as shown inFig. 1, the arrangement of the levers ofthe lazy-tongs serving to transmit the strain and support the rack from its at` taclied end.

The lazy tongs are made up of a series of pivotally connected pairs of levers, Vthe levers constituting each pair bein pivoted together beyond the longitudina centers thereof so that the arms of each of the pairs of levers will be of unequal length, causing the rack when extended to assume a curved or arched position, the shorter arms being on the inside of the arch formed when the rack is extended from the wall or rests on th-e floor. lVhen extended from its support on a vertical wall, the rack will swing downwardly on a curve, and, accordingly hangsv in a more stable condition than if it extended at substantially right angles to the wall. To collapse the rack from the extended or 'curved position when hanging from a wall, it must be pushed upwardly as well as in- -wardly toward the wall. When the rack is set up on a horizontal support or when it is .drawn out from a collapsed position when it hangs on a wall, the cross bars 14 thereof will be so disposed as to be vertically out of line, and thus provide more bar length for hanging up clothes and the like.

The end frame formed by the levers 16, 16.`

cross-bar 1S, and cross-bars 14, 14, parallel thereto, is so formed and the remaining parts of the device are so attached thereto that when the lsaid frame is hung on the wall as shown in Fig. 1 the rack will bedisposed in substantially a horizontal position. Racks of the vordinary construction are notL adapted to be attached to a wall and still:

admit of the removal of the same from the wall and the adjustment in an arched posi-y tion on a horizontal support.

vReferring to Fig. 2 it will be seen that when the rack isfolded the cross-bars thereof lit alongside one another and form a set of horizontal shelves 23 adjacent the wall W2 so that the device also has a function when lit is closed and not in use as a rack. The projections or hooks 15 are then also serviceable to hang articles on. The number of horizontal bars 14 forming each shelf is the same5 making the shelves of equal width.

`The leversv` 10, 101 close the shelves at their ends.

The rack may be of more or less members butl it is necessary that it always have the same arrangement of parts. The ratio between. the short and long distance between the bars forming pivots for the levers may be changed slightly, however it is necessary to observe the proportions in order to obtain a satisfactory device. Other minor modiiications may .be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and therefore Ido vnot wish to be limited to the exact details as shown and described.

Having thus described the invention, what y is claimed is: 4

In a clothes rack, the combination of `a pair of lazy tongs each comprising a` series of pivotally connected pairs of similar lesaid cross bars constituting the pivotal cono nections for the levers forming the lazy tongs, the levers comprising each pair of levers being pivoted together beyond their longitudinal centers so as to form arms of unequal length of each of the levers constituting a pair whereby said rack, when extended, will extend along a curve and form an arch-like support for clothes, said frame being adapted to be attached to a wall and support the rack so that it will hang downwardly and outwardly on a curve from said wall.`

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MARTIN L. ANDREWS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

